BLACK-BACKED KALEEGE 35 



little drab forest butterflies. Especially do they love the grubs and larvae of dung insects 

 and those which live in rotten wood, and they even swallow the small millipede pill-bugs, 

 armour and all. They will sometimes repair day after day to the same stump or fallen 

 tree, and labour with beak and claw to penetrate into the tunnels of the hidden insects. 

 Yams are also a favourite article of diet, and the pheasants will often dig quite deep holes 

 and trenches in the mould of open forest glades in search of these fleshy tubers. When 

 they go into the small, field-like places along the edge of the forest, the kaleege find an 

 abundance of seeds of weeds, grain, and other plants, and, in addition, they eat the 

 young tops of ferns and nettles, many kinds of berries, and the fruit of a Polygonum and 

 a raspberry which abound in Sikhim. A female which was brought to me by a native 

 shikaree had eaten many small bits of green moss, some very small fern-sprouts and a 

 small turreted snail, while the stomach contained many of the reddish hairs characteristic 

 of begonia leaves. A male bird shot in the late evening had been feeding exclusively on 

 insects, all but one of which were moths. Among these was one large one {Arete 

 caerulea Guerrde), the remainder being smaller and of as yet undescribed species. With 

 these was an enormous orange-headed wasp [Vespa magnifica Smith). 



The kaleege roosts in trees, and when once found it is easily re-located by the 

 abundant sign on the ground beneath. It is seldom that a bird roosts alone, two usually 

 being found sitting close together, while after the breeding season the young roost with 

 their parents for many weeks. Night after night the birds return to the identical spot, 

 until, as certain sportsmen relate with evident pride, the roosting-place is discovered, 

 when " as many as six may be shot from the tree " by the intrepid Nimrod ! 



Whether this kaleege ever associates with the small deer of the jungle I do not 

 know. I saw nothing of the kind. It seems well provided with enemies. A few days 

 after I had watched the nesting pair of birds in their haunts I passed close to the log 

 where the hen should have been sitting. A glint of white drew my attention, and parting 

 the ferns I found the seven eggs clawed out, and fragments of shell and yolk all about, 

 covered now with a host of hungry ants. The havoc had been wrought the night before, 

 and a little careful search showed that the self-same baloo was the villain — either the 

 same bear which had passed me two days before or another of the same size. The 

 footprints and signs were unmistakable. In his case, at least, there was no malice 

 aforethought ; he had doubtless been searching for grubs and tubers and berries, and had 

 ambled aimlessly up to the fallen tree. But the sudden apparition of his great paw, 

 which he had rested on the soft moss, had sent the mother pheasant in swift, terrified 

 flight. The sudden roar of wings must have brought memories of other ovivorous days, 

 and we can imagine how eagerly he sniffed the eggs and clawed them out into a broken 

 pile, licking the shells and his dripping paws with satisfaction. Thus had seven little 

 pheasant lives come to nought. Two more days passed and then, for several mornings, 

 I heard an intermittent drumming from this same patch of forest. It was undoubtedly 

 the first hint of the founding of a new home. 



On the last day which I spent in this glade of the kaleege I had another most vivid 

 example of the dangers to which these wild creatures are subject. I reached my favourite 

 boulder at noon and lay for several hours watching the life of the jungle. At first it was 

 unusually warm and quite breathless — the forest fairly steamed in the unwonted heat. 

 Then a cool breeze sprang up, followed by a sudden bank of dark clouds well above the 



